What Makes Us Strong
by SilverFang88
Summary: In order to change ourselves, something needs to act as a driving force to push in the direction we wish to go. Something needs to motivate us to move forward, to pick us up when we fall, and guide us in the direction we wish to go. For Frenda Seivelun that 'something' turned out to be a boy, a boy who showed her what it meant to be strong; a boy and a memory that changed her life.


Greetings to all!

SilverFang88 here with another One-Shot for all my lovely Toaru fans to enjoy. And get this, it's not a Touma/Mikoto fic; haazaaa! Okay, joking aside, I have a bit of news for those of you who read or follow A Certain World of Darkness. Sorry to say, no Darkness this month; I took a holiday this month since I'm kinda busy and this is my last week of vacation I'll be getting 'til next year. So yeah, I haven't done much in ACWOD. That's not to say I haven't done anything, but not enough and I'm not going to do a rush job on it and make it sloppy. So, for those of you waiting on that, I apologize.

So I hope you all enjoy this little bit here as a token of apology for the lack of an update this month. I promise it'll be up by next month, you have my word as a Fanfiction author on that.

That said, I hope you all enjoy something that isn't another Touma/Mikoto fic among the mass pile of them floating around out there.

No offense to the shippers on that boat.

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><p>Typically, people often live in the present and choose to focus on that rather than to keep themselves locked in their past. No good came from living in a time which couldn't be changed. But to fully understand ourselves, to understand the reasons in which why we do the things in which we do, we must revisit those times for the sake of reflection. All people have done this at some point in the lives, many times in fact people do this, and it fulfills its purpose in doing so.<p>

To understand the present, we must sometimes take a step back to review ourselves from the times of old.

Frenda Seivelun, for example, was one of those people who did often reflect on certain events.

The blonde foreigner was among the large majority who was without powers and thus referred to as just your average Level 0. She wasn't special in the eyes of many, but in spite of that she kept a brave face and never slowed in her stride. She wasn't an Esper, she had no power, but she liked to believe she was smart and was in fact quite a cute sight to behold. That was what she told herself, she told that to herself everyday as it was the easiest way for her to cope with the fact that she would never be like the Espers that exist in the city.

Frenda kept that brave face, that image, for the sake of her younger sibling who had always looked up to her.

For Fremea, she would be strong.

She had to be strong, to be more radiant than any star they would ever see in the sky.

And so she kept maintaining that image, even if the harsh truth was that she wasn't.

"B-b-basically l-l-leave m-me alone!"

Reality, in its spite, often went out of its way to remind her of that fact; remind her of how weak she was. Careful as she was in trying to avoid these things, fate always seemed to have it out for her. Most instances in which she encountered trouble, she could run away from it, hide from it, or even gain assistance from Anti-Skill or Judgment. She of course never told her younger sibling about it, less the image she had tried to build all this time crumble to pieces. But she had tempted fate too many times, eluded it on too many occasions, and so fate deemed that it was time to set the matter straight with her.

She, a Level 0, was weak.

The boys, who had cornered her weren't.

"Haha, check it! She's crying, the little squirt's crying!"

"Wow, this is kinda depressing, and she was so lively a while ago."

Let it be said that there was a legit reason behind all of this, but the short version of it was more convenient to explain. In the basic sense, Frenda was being harassed as she was heading back to her dorm. She didn't show she was afraid at first, having maintained a brave face as long as she could. But when one of them invaded her personal space and clasped his hand onto her shoulder, she acted out on that fear she was trying to hide. The end result led to her foot meeting with one of the teen's…well, further elaboration isn't necessary.

It had been a reflex, really that's all it was, but it ended up turning into a chase which eventually brought her to where she was now. Trapped between a wall and two boy's who looked a few years older than she was. Not much older, not high-school students at least, but definitely older and taller than she currently stood now. Both were taking their time now in approaching her though it wasn't out of fear that made them act this way. They weren't close enough touch her, but well within range of her to see the tears spilling down her cheeks and the shivering of her body.

She was weak, she had no power, and something bad was about to happen to her. She didn't need to be an A plus student to know all that. She didn't know what was going to happen, she could take a number of guesses since they were far enough back in an alleyway that nobody would see them from the street. Whatever it was they decided to do, there was no doubt in her mind that she would get hurt in some form or another.

The thought of not knowing what was going to happen was probably just as terrifying as being trapped in this situation.

"Now that we got her, what do you wanna do to her? Strip her bare and leave her or what?"

That suggestion was terrible, immoral, but at least it wasn't by any means the worst thing these two boys could do to her. They were still just kids, not criminals, so in that respect she would be getting off lucky if this was the option they opted for.

"Nah, I'm fine with the idea of just beating the crap out of her; little runt's had it coming since she ran off."

Just cause they were kids though didn't mean they could be spiteful and give two shits less if they hit a girl or not.

She hated this, hated everything about this whole situation and what it implied. Frenda was helpless and every part of her being hated being in a position that she could do nothing to protect herself. It wasn't just these guys either, but other Espers as well treated her and everyone around them like they were inferior. They, the Espers, were the ones who ran the show here; they flaunted their power and made all sorts of excuses to show them off and demean everyone who witness it.

Every fiber of Frenda's being wanted to be like those people.

She didn't want to be in a position like this anymore.

She didn't want to ever feel as helpless and defenseless as she was now.

She didn't want to just make empty boasts for the sake of keeping Fremea's spirits up. Frenda wasted to make a boast that meant something, more than words could ever express. She wanted those empty statements to mean something, something that she could be proud of.

To be strong, independent, and something her sister could be proud of; that was the thing which she wanted most.

But, as far as things were, she was none of things; the only solace to be had was that Fremea was not here to witness her as she was now. A crying, sniveling, mess huddled up against the wall with her eyes clinched shut as the boy's shadow loomed over her form. Frenda wasn't even brave enough to face him; how much lower could she possibly be in this exact moment? Well that question could be answered by the faint, yet simple, words she had uttered under her breath.

"…help me…"

Those words were, again, very simple.

"someone…please…"

Fruitless as it was, she still said them anyway. Not that it had mattered since not a soul could possibly hear them.

"Oi, what're you mutterin' you little–"

Fate, it seemed, felt remorseful since apparently her efforts were not as fruitless as she believed.

Because whatever it was the teen was about to be say, it had abruptly been cut off when a new voice reverberating off the surrounding walls.

"Oi, back off you bastards!"

Nobody expected this outcome, not Frenda, not the two boys, and thus they were taken completely by surprise when the shout erupted. Before anyone could really grasp what was happening, sounds of a scuffle broke out. Frenda did not witness it firsthand, not possessing the courage to even open her eyes; she was too afraid to and could do nothing but stay where she was. The only thing that she could do was listen to the curses, the cries of pain, and many other sounds common in any act of violence. There was no way to tell how long she had stayed that way; it could have been as long as ten minutes or as little as three.

Only when the noise around her finally stopped did she dare to crack open her eyes. Her surroundings didn't change much, aside from a few overturned trash bens and the like, but something was pretty obvious based on what she was currently taking in. Those two boys, both of whom wished to do her harm, were no longer standing. They were on the ground, groaning in pain, and didn't seem as intimidating as they did before. The only one standing was a boy, one who looked no older than she did, and was currently breathing heavily due to overexertion.

"Jeez, I think this is my limit after all."

The offhanded comment was spoken to nobody in particular in-between his rapid breaths, but was still loud enough to be heard. Little by little, Frenda began to absorb what had happened here and soon after realize that she was safe. She wanted to stand, she wanted to speak, wanted to move, to leave; but instead she just continued to stare at this boy in muted shock whilst occasionally sniffling a bit from her position on the ground.

That, it seemed, was all the noise that was needed to catch the attention of the person who had answered her call.

"Huh, u-um, what's wrong? You should be okay now; these guys won't be bothering you anymore."

Unintentionally, Frenda's body flinched when the boy's attention had been drawn to her. It was an action in which she could not control, nor were the tears that were still spilling down her cheeks when he moved closer towards her. But he didn't seem to notice that reaction before, but he did when it happened again; this time when his hand had moved towards her. It didn't touch her, it didn't move any closer to her than necessary, it was just being held out for her to take. So no, her instinctual act to kick in the low-blow-zone for males did not trigger.

"Oi, I'm not the bad guy here." If he was trying to calm her down, it wasn't working since a bit of his frustration slipped out when saying that. "Come on, don't be scared, I won't hurt you."

When he swayed his outstretched hand side to side in front of her, he was satisfied to see that she had not flinched. It was not because of the fact that his words soothed her though; the reasoning here was different. Frenda was staring down at his hand which he offered and was thus exposed to his raw knuckles that adored it. Traveling up the boy's arm and to his face revealed a sweaty, bruised, and swollen mess of a face.

Her head twitched slightly at the repulsive sight she was looking at and suppressed the urge to grimace.

Talk about gross.

But she could look past that for the time being.

"B-b-basically y-your…your um..."

Seemingly impatient, the boy let out a sigh whilst frantically scratching the back of his spiky head with his free hand. It showed too because, the next thing she knew, he had wordlessly moved his hand, grabbed her by her arm, and forcefully pulled her up off the ground before jerking her along with him as he quickly moved away from the area.

"B-basically, l-let me go!"

"Can't, you were taking too long and those guys will probably get up soon."

The straight answer was always the best, as all protest died in her throat as she was being led away from the scene of the incident. Her legs, still weak and trembling, were barely able to keep up with the boy's pace, but she did not object to it. She had no reason to since he did bring up a good point and they obviously couldn't just sit around waiting for the boys to get back up. It took a while, but eventually she came to really grasp the fact that she was safe; safe enough to wipe away the tears from her eyes. Throughout it all, she continued to stare at the back of this boy's spiky head he practically dragged her by the arm to who knew where.

Despite his grip, it was not harmful to in a way that made her scared. It reminded her of how her mother used to pull her around when near an open road when she was younger; not too strong that it hurt nor was it too loose that she could slip out of it. It was just to hold her, nothing else, but and only as a physical display his urgency to vacate the immediate area as quickly as possible.

As they continued to walk, Frenda had gradually been trying to regain at least a portion of her composure. They were out in the open now, where people could see her, and she was safe. Safe enough to put back the image she was so used to portraying. Given what happened, or what nearly happened to her, it wouldn't have been a big surprise to anyone that the façade would not be as solid as it usually was. Once enough of it had been restored and her voice returned to her, she proceeded to ask the first question that came to mind.

"B-basically, where are we going?"

The boy, upon hearing the question, abruptly stopped and turned around to again look at her. The poor blonde had nearly collided with him thanks to this sudden halt in action, but thankfully she hadn't. Blatant confusion was etched within sphere's of a darker shade of blue than her own; before his expression turned sheepish.

"Hahaha, um, I dunno. I just wanted to get as far away as I could and didn't really have a place in mind." If it weren't for the bruises, Frenda likely would have seen his cheeks tinting red out of embarrassment; but she didn't so it largely went unnoticed. "I…think this might be far enough away though."

The instant he said this, the blonde's arm had been released from his hold as he stepped away from her and leaned his body to the side to look passed her. As confused as she was by his actions, she too did the same and saw nobody worthy of being mentioned coming up behind them. When she turned back, she saw the brief look of relief on his face before his lips curved up into a satisfied grin.

She had to admit, he looked pretty goofy when he was grinning like that…in a good way.

"Good, they aren't following us; guess that means we're home free." Satisfied, the boy straightened himself back up normally before resting his hands in his hips. The grin on his face soon faded and replaced with a more serious expression once his eyes fell back onto her though. "Hurry back home before they find you again; I get the feeling they're not gonna be happy when they get back up. Just keep an eye out for em', don't take any shortcuts home, and you should be fine."s

As if talking to a friend, he lightly patted on her shoulders as a sign of reassurance before turning around and started moving back down the direction they had initially been traveling on.

"Be careful and stay safe!"

That had been his parting message, which was accompanied by the departing wave he sent over his shoulder as he walked on. Bewildered would probably be the best way to describe how Frenda currently felt in that moment. It was no mystery as to why she felt this way; anyone in her position would have likely felt the same. In front of her was a boy who recklessly jumped into a bad situation and then just casually began walking off as if nothing happened. She could already see he was hurt, she clearly saw that he hadn't left that encounter unscathed, but he still just shrugged it off like it was nothing.

Esper's don't get hurt from bullies or people like that unless said people are Esper's themselves. That was common knowledge to any Level 0, they often did watch every little thing that happened when it concerned the object of their envy. That being said, did that make this boy a Level 0 like her? How was it that he could do something so reckless like that when he was clearly at a disadvantage? Sure, he had the element of surprise, but it was still two against one. If those two boys had been Espers, would he have still done that if they were? Wasn't he scared that those boys could have really hurt him bad just for sticking up for her like that?

These were only some of the questions in which she wanted answers to. Yet, in spite of all those questions, her mouth had sputtered out something completely different from what she had really wanted to say in that particular moment in time.

"B-b-basically, you're doing everything wrong!"

"Huh?"

Dumbfounded, the boy's attention once again had been draw to the short blonde who, for some reason, looked irritated for reasons he could not understand.

"You're supposed to introduce yourself first, then say goodbye when you do something like that!"

"What are you talking about?" Seriously, the boy was completely lost due to how vague she was in her description of 'doing something like that'. It occurred to him a second later, but it still confused him regardless. "W-wait, huh? What do you take me for, the main character in some Shounen manga or something?"

"Basically, you're the one who acted like one just now!"

"I was not! I was just doing what anyone would've done!"

Never mind the fact that nobody really did much of anything to stop the two boys chasing after an obviously younger girl running down the sidewalk. The commotion they caused did, however, lead him to where they had her trapped and thus allowing him to intervene. For the sake of the argument, though, he chose not to mention any of that.

"W-whatever, just tell me your name already!"

Again, a sigh escaped the boy's lips as his head lulled back to stare up the sky above him; the visage ruined by the tall skyscrapers that made up this city. Shifting his gaze back towards the girl, who's cheeks had been puffed up, he shrugged his shoulders, closed his eyes, and promptly gave up on trying to figure out what the girl's deal was.

"Fine, fine, I'm Kamijou Touma."

As a show of good faith, the boy now known as Touma extended his right hand out for the girl to shake. His eyes were still closed, but had they been opened he would have seen the huffy look on Frenda's face dissipate a bit as a a triumphant smile took shape on her lips.

"Frenda Seivelun."

And with that her smaller, less-sullied, hand joined with that of the spiky haired boy's own.

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><p>As stated before, we as people often reflect on the past to understand why we are who we are in the present. Also, as stated before, Frenda was one of those people who often did this as most others often did as well.<p>

"Basically, do you remember how we met?"

The person she was speaking to was the very same person she had met then; Kamijou Touma. Said teen hadn't changed much over the years in terms of looks or attitude once she got to know him. He was nobody, a weak Level 0 just like her and yet was the strongest person she had ever met in her life. There was no doubt in her mind that such a statement was true, for in a city like this there indeed wasn't anyone stronger than him.

Not in her world at least, to her there was no person stronger than this lethargic bum in front of her. There wasn't a star in the sky that she could see which outshined him; not even the sun. But it wasn't physical strength she was talking about. It wasn't his physical condition, his intelligence, his charisma, his arm, or any of those things that made her view him in this light. She had this view because of who he was: a normal guy who accepted his normality and faced his obstacles in spite of that.

Touma didn't pretend to be anything more or less than what he was; a normal guy with normal dreams of doing normal things. He didn't try to be someone different; he just acted like himself and didn't pretend to be something he wasn't. He accepted everything about himself, both good and bad, and didn't use the excuse of being normal stop him from doing the things he did. So long as he could clench his fist, move his feet, and take that first step forward, then it didn't matter if he was normal or not.

That had been the lesson which he had unknowingly taught her over the years since that day. The lesson that one didn't need powers to be strong, to have courage, and to stand up and do what one believes is right. For centuries normal people had done great things, long before Academy City had been raised, and it was somewhat easy to forget that fact once one settles into a city like this. But Kamijou had reminded her of that little bit of knowledge; in his own way he taught her that and reminded her of what normal people could achieve despite the lack of powers.

The abilities help, yes, but they weren't a staple that one needed in order to be any of those things. Touma might have been labeled as a hypocrite for saying that due to his arm, but Frenda firmly believed even without it he would have still turned out this way. She wouldn't accept it if he was any different than this person who did well in reminding her of what she could do and how to be strong; Esper or not. It took a close call, some time and a lot of effort, but she made it to this point and that in itself proof enough that she had what it took to be strong.

For her sister, for herself, and for him, she would be as strong as she needed to be.

So long as she had the strength to keep reaching that ending with all of them smiling, then she was content.

In a different life, she likely would have laughed or in another she perhaps would be appalled at that, but those were not the case in this one. In this life, Frenda was someone she could be proud of; she could thrive and bask in the light that this world provided and be left untainted by the dark muck which she nor anyone around her knew of. She no longer made empty boasts, no longer put up a fake image to hide her lies, fears and doubts. She wasn't weak, she knew this now, and could say that she was strong without shame and with her head held high.

All of this was made possible by a certain boy's reckless intervention.

The same boy she admired and cherished more than he would ever know.

Said boy lazily raised his forehead from off his desk to stare at the blonde girl who he had 'saved' those years ago. She was currently looking down at him from on top of the desk in front of him, green arm-band poking out from her skirt pocket as she continued to indulge on the canned mackerel she insisted on eating. The same eyes that were reminiscent to the summer skies gazed at him in wait for his response, one which she knew he recalled. She knew he knew it because she wouldn't let him forget it; not that it was a bad thing. It got repetitive was all; it made him wish she could remember something a little less painful.

"Yeah, I remember." Retorted the lad with a sigh; trying and failing to ignore the looks he still received from his classmates by mindlessly staring straight ahead. Envious, all of them, but at least not everyone in the class was like that. It was kinda shared as most of the females students were giving the same looks to Frenda; looks of envy. "Also I can see your panties."

"Then basically stop looking at them!"

The flawless kick she sent to the side of her head did the job at putting him on the floor. Just like that, all the stares were gone and everyone focused on eating and chatting rather than paying either of the two any mind. Oddly, despite the number of students in the classroom, nobody did much to help him up and instead continued on as if nothing happened. That was to be expected since this was normal behavior between the two of them.

"Fukou-da."

In the end, the subject of the past really didn't matter all that much. Not to Touma at least; he lived for today and the day that would come after rather than the days that came before. But in some way he couldn't explain, that memory served as more than just a fragment of the past stored in the confines of his mind. He didn't do something as amazing as saving her life or anything, but…strangely he felt he did something greater than that.

What was greater than saving a life, he didn't know.

The answer: changing someone's fate towards a brighter future.

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><p>Welcome to the bottom!<p>

So, yeah, it's short, its sweet, and its simple; but that's how we love it aint it? Don't asnwer that; instead I'll go ahead and answer the question you're all likely to ask. No there will not be a continuation. I just wrote it on a whim with no real plot or anything of that sort. If I had the time and wasn't doing ACWOD, I'd go deeper into this. Sadly, I can't, and for that I'll go ahead and apologize again for just leaving it here. But guys, I'm just saying, just cause I'm not gonna do it doesn't mean nobody should. Come on, I'ma trend setter; its what I do. The slew of Touma/Mugino's that popped up in the past is proof enough that I can make a few ripples in here.

Someone, act on this, and make something great out of this if you can. We need some verity here people, don't leave me hanging here as one of the few people on this side of experimenting with these unusual pairings.

Sorry for the rant, its just my eyes are bleeding from all the TouMiko fics out there and its slowly killing me. I'm just glad I was able to contribute something different into the mix here and provide you all with something a little more fresh.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


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